Dragon Age
DA Awakening Andrastian Deities & Historical Figures The Maker Monotheistic Creator of all that exists and all-powerful, all-knowing deity of the Andrastian doctrine. The Maker has been involved for centuries in a passive-aggressive cycle of rejecting humanity, returning briefly, and leaving once more due to the weight of humanity's sins. The Chantry believes that if all four corners of the world sing the Chant of Light, the Maker will finally forgive humanity of their sins and return to their world. The reason he abandons Thedas. Three times, no less. First when the Old Gods seduced Tevinter into worshiping them, again when Tevinter breaks into the Golden City, and a final time when Andraste is betrayed and burned alive by Tevinter. Andraste The Messiah of the religion that bears her name. Andraste had three step-sons and two biological daughters. This is thought to be the case with Andraste's biological descendants. This, the loss of so many records during the Second Blight, and the fact that most cultures in Thedas use patrilineal naming traditions, is why no one knows what became of Andraste's heirs. She already had a mortal husband, but The Maker picked her to be His bride as well. She initially refused, because she wouldn't abandon her people. This only made Him love her more. Of Andraste's two biological children, her older daughter is said to have had one daughter who herself died childless while Andraste's younger daughter produced a large number of descendants, all girls. Due to a combination of patrilineal naming traditions and the records being destroyed in the Second Blight, no one knows what became of Andraste's descendants, though they are thought to still be all female. While debates rage regarding the Maker's morality, Andraste herself is almost never vilified. Even those in Tevinter who speculate she could be a mage still revere her, and the Dalish, who do not believe in the Maker, view her as an honorable woman for freeing the elves. Andraste was initially thought to be barren, so Maferath took a concubine to prevent his line from dying out. After the concubine died, Andraste had two daughters. Subverted. The Tevinter Imperium's Chantry officially holds the position that Andraste was a very powerful mage. This is considered the darkest heresy in the Southern Chantry. It is said that Andraste was not happy when her daughter married a Tevinter Magister. Any records that weren't lost in the Second Blight were destroyed by Andraste herself. Maferath The king of the Alamarri tribe of barbarians, and Andraste's husband before being chosen as The Maker's bride. Infamous for his later betrayal of his wife. He was the king of the Alamarri, the tribe of barbarians who would later become the Fereldans. According to one of the canticles, he made the Alamarri officially Andrastians. His sons later went on to found what would become Orlais and Ferelden. In fact, Ferelden was crippled as a unified country for nearly five hundred years because none of the Alamarri warlords could decide who would succeed him. Had he not betrayed Andraste, it's likely Ferelden, rather than Orlais, would have been the first of the southern Andrastian nations and the focal point of their shared culture. World of Thedas volume 2 suggests Maferath was not jealous of the Maker or his wife's popularity, although that might have played a role. Rather, he did not want to march on Tevinter's main territory, where the people would not support Andraste, without having a base in the South from which to draw strength. Few followers of Andraste make mention of the fact that he repented, reformed, and (apparently) was forgiven by Andraste herself. Shartan The leader of the elves that aided Andraste in her rebellion against the Tevinter Imperium. He and his followers were given the Dales as reward. He either died trying to save Andraste after she was betrayed, or he was burned alive with her. She became a goddess (or, at least, a revered prophet). He didn't. According to his Temple of Sacred Ashes spirit which may or may not be him, Shartan didn't care for humans, but "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," so he teamed up with Andraste to take down the Imperium to free his people. It's implied that they later grew to be respected allies and friends (if not lovers). According to his Sacred Ashes spirit, Shartan fought with Andraste against the Imperium to free his people from slavery and earn them a new homeland. For Tevinter. He went from being just another elven slave to the Rebel Leader of Andraste's elven army, and her strongest and closest general after Maferath. Following the Second Exalted March and the war against the Dales, the verses about him in the Chant were declared Dissonant (i.e. apocryphal, false), all art representing him destroyed, and even discussing him is a tricky proposition. However, his part in history is acknowledged in at least one city, and if Leliana is made Divine at the end of Inquisition, she will eventually restore his Canticle. Old Gods Dragon gods that exist underground. Supposedly, they tricked the Tevinter Magisters into breaching the Fade and causing the Blights. As a result, they are corrupted into Archdemons. Their leader and most powerful member is Dumat, the God of Silence. The others are Zazikel, the God of Chaos; Toth, the God of Fire; Andoral, the God of Slaves; Urthemiel, the God of Beauty; Razikale, the Goddess of Mystery; and Lusacan, the God of Night. Literally if you count their telepathic Songs. Otherwise they live in centuries-upon-centuries of paralyzed confinement. While an Archdemon is a force of destruction that must be stopped at all costs, the nature of the Old Gods in their uncorrupted forms is one of the setting's biggest mysteries. Andoral is the only one of the seven that represents anything bad per se, and even he is sometimes referred to as the Dragon of Unity instead. On the other hand, each of the Old Gods is said to have tricked one of the Tevinter Magisters into invading the Golden City and compete with each other for godhood. It doesn't help that the implication that they were ever evil to begin with was mostly spread about by the Chantry. Dumat in particular is theorized, at least by Corypheus and the Chantry, to have created Darkspawn in the first place through the Taint he received. If the Darkspawn were a thinking, independent army, they'd hate serving masters who use them for constant Zerg Rushes. Dumat, the Dragon of Silence. Grey Wardens, and indeed all beings carrying the Taint, can hear the Archdemons speak to them telepathically. It is unknown just what language they use, but it is known that said language is deep, bellowing, and demonic. Only the Darkspawn and the oldest Wardens can understand what they say. Like all dragons, they can breathe whatever element they prefer. Zazikel, the Dragon of Chaos. Solas in Inquisition believes that the Old Gods are somehow vital to the world. He hates the Grey Wardens because their method of ending Blights destroys the Old Gods' souls. Solas thinks that destroying all of them could ultimately lead to something worse than any Blight. This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.Word of God once commented offhandedly that "Dragon blood is the blood of Thedas", but this has never been expounded upon. Hmmmmmm. Lusacan, the Dragon of Night. Supposedly. They communicated with the Tevinter Magisters through their dreams. All Darkspawn hear the Old Gods singing to them. Supposedly, it's the most beautiful song you could hear and after a while makes it impossible to think for yourself. Cutting Darkspawn off from this song has been shown to give them back their sanity and sapience, but it also drives some mad and desperate to hear it again. When a Warden starts to hear this, it signals the beginning of The Calling, and the end of their lifespan. According to in-game lore, the song feels like an "intrusion" at first, but becomes gradually louder and more fixed in the mind until the Warden can't live without it, or even remember not hearing it. One journal you find by a long-dead Warden veteran has the Warden's writing constantly digress into gushing its beauty, to the point of resenting being judged for enjoying it in spite of what it represents. During a failed attempt to kill one of the Old Gods before he could be corrupted, the Grey Wardens discovered that the song is audible to anyone close enough to their prisons, and incredibly loud. Toth, the Dragon of Fire. Command the entire horde of Darkspawn when awakened. In the Andrastian religion, they're considered this. They're equivalent to the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, turning Man away from the "one true god". Dumat in particular is responsible for most of what has happened in the Dragon Age stories. To elaborate: he convinced the Magisters to open a way into the Fade, which caused them to contact the Blight and create the first Darkspawn. One of those Magisters also happened to be Corypheus, who would play a large role in the events of Dragon Age II and Inquisition. Maybe. The codex entries for a few constellations in Inquisition suggests that many of the constellations attributed to the Old Gods were originally attributed to Elven gods and then supplanted at some point during the reign of Tevinter. For example, Silentir (attributed to Dumat) is speculated to originally represent Mythal, and Tenebrium (attributed to Lusacan) is speculated to originally represent Falon'Din. However, Solas (an Elven historian) states that there exists no lore that connects the Elven gods to the Old Gods at all. As Fen'Harel, he would know... but Fen'Harel is also a Consummate Liar. The ancient Imperium thought so. Before the First Blight, the Imperium reserved Dragon iconography for the Old Gods themselves. The Old Gods are beautiful and vibrant beings before being turned into Archdemons, but even then they have malicious intent. We think. Hence why only Grey Wardens can kill them. Whenever one dies, its spirit leaves its carcass and searches for a body to possess and transform, usually Darkspawn. As their name implies, this is what they're referred to. Thus far, it's never been revealed what they are exactly, or why they're called "Old". Tevinter learned the hard way. The Old Gods seek to kill everyone and everything that isn't Tainted in their Blights, even former worshipers. Though the Architect claims to want to change this, as it stands the Old Gods and their Darkspawn minions cannot peacefully co-exist with other intelligent life. Though defeated in each Blight thus far, each time the Archdemons come close to eradicating all life in Thedas; Dumat's Blight alone wiped out well over a third of humanity when it occurred, not even counting the other races involved. Similar situations occur outside of Blights. If they're not on the surface, the Darkspawn fight for the Old Gods underground, making endless war on the Dwarves (when they're not busy fighting each other). The Dwarves know all too well that the war with the Darkspawn is eternal, and won't end until one side or the other is wiped out entirely. There are Dragonlings, Dragons, and High Dragons, and then there are these guys. No one knows exactly what they are, or if they're truly dragons, since no one has spoken to one since the glory days of Tevinter. The Archdemon in Origins, an Old God corrupted by the Blight, does not take extra damage from weapons that deal more damage against Dragons and Darkspawn because it is neither. The Chantry claims that the Old Gods are extremely powerful spirits that took the forms of dragons after enticing their followers into summoning them into the physical world. Though the Chantry is far from the most reliable source, there is at least one case unrelated to the Old Gods where a spirit that was worshipped as a deity was summoned and then bound into the body of a High Dragon. There is speculation among scholars In-Universe that there may in fact be eight Old Gods rather than seven. This theory is mainly born from the Fridge Logic of the Tevinter Imperium identifying the Draconis constellation as a dragon even before the first Blight when dragon iconography was reserved for the seven known Old Gods.They are sealed deep underground. The reasons why vary. The Darkspawn, however, actively search for them and dig them out. Once an Old God is corrupted into an Archdemon and slain, its corpse becomes a vital component for sealing the corresponding High Priest that invaded the Golden City. Andoral, the Dragon of Slaves. Both the Andrastian Chantry and Corypheus agree on this much; the Old Gods tricked the Magister into entering the Golden City. The difference is what exactly the "trick" was. According to the former, it was persuading them into betraying The Maker. According to the latter, it was that the Black City was already empty and corrupted before they got there. Word of God is that the Black City was verifiably golden in appearance before the Magister's attempt to invade it however, which raises even more questions. Razikale, the only Old God identified as female, is referred to as "She Who Winds the Skein of Wisdom" and her domain governs knowledge. This does not mean that she is any more or less malicious than her brothers. Titans The Titans are ancient creatures that live in the Deep Roads. They are defended by the Sha-Brytol and are connected to the lyrium that dwarves mine. They bleed lyrium, which is colored blue. Besides the fact that they're alive and apparently have lyrium for blood, there are plants, birds, and what looks like an inverted sky inside the creature we see. When the Sha-Brytol drink its lyrium blood, they gain extended life and glowing eyes instead of liquefied organs like anyone else would. Apparently it can also grant dwarves magic. It's unknown if Titans are living cave systems or creatures that resemble such. Either way, they're huge, they resemble rock, and people can live in them. Apparently, an entire unknown civilization of dwarves lives in the Titan encountered. They use earthquakes to shape and sculpt the world. An Inquisitor with the Arcane Knowledge perk can realise that they have not been approaching the Titan — they are within it. The existence of the Titans is implied to have been removed from the Memories by the Shapers for reasons unknown. Elven Pantheon/Evanuris Their lust for power lead them to commit terrible crimes to the elves. Eventually they turned on Mythal, killing her for being the only check to their growing power and insatiable greed. Whether or not they were actually "gods" or simply powerful elves. Morrigan, who always believed the latter, starts to have doubts when she learns what sort of abilities these "gods" have. As it stands, they may be so powerful that "god" is the only word sufficient to describe them. Trespasser reveals that they were indeed powerful elven rulers, but what they were capable of made even the other elves worship them as gods. It's hinted that the daily lives of the pantheon played out a lot like the courtly intrigue in modern palaces, but with magic.The original conflict between Elgar'nan and his father, The Sun. Elgar'nan was prepared to let the world stay a barren wasteland just to spite his old man.They were locked in a Forever War against The Forgotten Ones until Fen'Harel (according to legend) locked both sides away. Elven legend says they were locked away by Fen'Harel. However, Inquisition reveals that Fen'Harel did so after Mythal was in fact betrayed and murdered. In fact, when Flemeth is revealed to actually be Mythal, an elven Inquisitor can call her out on precisely this, saying that despite being present after Arlathan fell, Mythal/Flemeth has answered none of the prayers and supplication her people made in desperation and despair in all those centuries. Almost every single Elven god has some sort of myth that makes them seem like assholes. Elgar'nan had no concept of the difference between justice and revenge, obliterating innocent and guilty alike. Falon'Din massacred elves in huge numbers to satisfy his ego with worshippers. Andruil hunted The Forgotten Ones until she became a maddened berserker. And so on, and so forth. Only Mythal kept it together. This combined with their murder of Mythal justifies why Fen'Harel thought they needed to be brought down a peg. Fen'Harel locked them away beyond the Fade after creating the Veil. He now wishes to undo this in order to restore immortality to the elves, knowing that this will devastate all other races. Solas reveals in Trespasser that the Elven pantheon are merely phenomenally powerful, immortal mages rather than actual gods who rose to prominence after an unknown war and established an empire where they were revered as deities. Elgar'nan King of the gods and god of Fatherhood and Vengeance. The strongest of the Elven gods, who took his throne from his father by force. When The Sun pissed him off by destroying the original world, he kicked its ass. The leader of the Elven pantheon, the "good guys". He will beat the crap out of anyone who angers him. Part of his origin myth is The Sun burning everything on the land to a cinder, but he himself is also associated with the element, as well as light, which may not be a coincidence. It is also said that his fire is the reason Dwarves fear the sun. In contrast to the Chantry's version, Elven lore say it was he who remade the world, after The Sun destroyed the original one. The leader of the gods, and also the god of Fatherhood. His other speciality, besides Fatherhood. Of the Elven Pantheon, ruling with his queen, Mythal. Mythal Goddess of Love, Motherhood, and Justice. Also Queen of the gods, wife of Elgar'nan, mother of the rest of the pantheon. She's accused of this by Morrigan. She actually looks hurt at the accusation. but does not deny it. The queen of the gods is strongly associated with dragons. Probably because she can turn into one. According to her most devout follower, Mythal was killed by... something. She herself verifies that she's out for Revenge, and that she's only a wisp of what she once was. If playing as a Dalish Inquisitor, s/he will desperately ask where the hell Mythal's been all this time. The elves have prayed for her to save them for millennia, with no answer. The answer is that she was painfully weakened and more interested in avenging herself upon her killers. If you pray to her for vengeance against an innocent party, she will know... and she will not be happy. In Elven lore. Not just sexual love, but also the love of family. According to Solas, Mythal was not quite as gentle and all-loving as the Dalish depict her, since she was the Goddess of Justice as well as Motherhood. He explains that this is because she is the Goddess of Motherhood — while mothers can be very gentle and loving to their children, they can also be wrathful and vengeful against those who hurt their children. Mythal was the first of the Evanuris to kill a Titan, and inspired the others to follow suit. This led to them unleashing something that Fen'Harel's followers thought would destroy the world if it wasn't contained. She was the only god who was not too proud, vain, or wrathful. This resulted in her having to clean up most of the other gods' messes and keep them in check. She is revealed to have been murdered for this reason. Allegedly a protector goddess (which makes a Dalish Inquisitor upset that she didn't protect them.) Mythal sealed away the pillars of the earth, enemies that the ancient elves once fought against. The only people in the setting with gold eyes are those who have a direct connection to Mythal. In the Monomyth, she persuaded the angry and prideful Elgar'nan to release his father from imprisonment so that life could grow again. Similarly, when Elves prayed for a god to give them justice, they always went to Mythal rather than Elgar'nan, because he would destroy everything in his fury, while she could better mediate true justice. A person that drinks from the Well of Sorrows belongs to her, mind, body and soul, for all eternity. Falon'Din The god of Death and Fortune. Twin brother of Dirthamen. The Elven god of Death. That said, according to Dalish lore, he's a very Nice Guy who gently guides the spirits of deceased souls (be they animals or people) to the Fade, where they can find eternal knowledge and peace. According to Solas, who is also Fen'Harel, this was not the case. He offers to guide people to Enlightenment, as well as the world beyond the Veil after their death. According to Solas, he massacred a lot of elves in a war to get more worshippers simply because he was vain. Finding a sickly deer in the woods, he picked her up and carried her to the afterlife. For the most part, he and his brother are only separated a handful of times, and they're never happy about it. The Temple of Mythal has lore indicating that while they were indeed incredibly close, they were not twins, nor friends, nor lovers, but had some other relationship that seems vaguely spiritual with no modern equivalent. According to Dalish lore, Falon'Din and his twin brother Dirthamen were inseparable and indistinguishable until the day Falon'Din took pity on a dying deer and carried her soul beyond the Veil, where Dirthamen could not follow. Dirthamen struggled in his absence, but when they reunited Falon'Din had decided to become a guide to souls in the afterlife, while Dirthamen decided to be seeker and sharer of knowledge and secrets to those mortal souls. Dirthamen God of Secrets and Knowledge. Fear and Deceit became his servants after being outsmarted by him. His godly sphere. He is not pleased if a secret he gives someone is revealed, however. Trickster God, Dabbled from time to time, though not to the degree of Fen'harel. When tempted to betray his brother (out of fear of being betrayed first), he refused. Andruil Goddess of the Hunt and creator of the Vir Tanadahl. The second tenet of the Three Trees: "Bend but never break". Traveling to The Abyss to hunt The Forgotten Ones made Andruil more and more crazed each time she went. Eventually, she returned just as much of a threat as her prey. Mythal had to fight and defeat her to get her to come to her senses. She protected all animals and bade that the elves do the same. On the other hand, she hunted all monsters and vicious beasts that were a danger to others, to point of almost killing off all of Ghilan'nain's creations. The creator of the Vir Tanadahl or, the Way of the Three Trees. The first tenet of the Three Trees: "Fly straight and do not waver". Andruil reportedly ventured into The Abyss many times to hunt The Forgotten Ones, Titans, and other monstrosities within. Elven legend can not decide if she was a daughter of Elgar'nan and Mythal, or if she independently formed from the earth. The third of her tenants is "Together, we are stronger than the one." To her sister Sylaise, since Andruil was said to be a Hot-Blooded Hunter of Monsters while Sylaise was a Nice Girl, and a bit of homebody. Sylaise Hearthkeeper goddess. Taught elves the basics of survival. Like her sister, Andruil, elven legends can not agree one whether Sylaise was a daughter of Elgar'nan and Mythal, or if she formed from the earth itself. The Song to Sylaise in the temple of Mythal suggest she was this trope. Her heat is said to "rival Elgar'nan's light." To her sister Andruil, since Andruil was said to be a Hot-Blooded Hunter of Monsters while Sylaise was a Nice Girl, and a bit of homebody. According to some in-universe Dalish Keepers, while lots of Dalish kids adopt Andruil's Creed to live by, few to none want to live by Sylaise's code, since being a peaceful healer and hearthkeeper is not nearly as glamorous or badass as being a warrior or hunter. June God of Crafts. While a god of "crafts," is said to have taught elves how to craft weapons and armor as well as many other useful items. It's said that he created himself. Joo-nay, not "Joon". He taught elves how to make everything, including bows, knives and other tools. No one is entirely sure what his "craft" actually was before Tevinter began destroying and defacing all his records. They apparently did not find it useful. Ghilan'nain Mother of the Halla. In Dalish tales, she asked the gods to curse a hunter for killing a hawk (a sacred animal). The gods made it so he could never kill anything again. In return, he blinded her, tied her in a forest and left her for dead. She prays to the gods again (this time for help), and after being freed by some hares, the gods turned her into a halla (a special white deer), the first of its kind. The lover of Andruil, the Goddess of the Hunt. According to lore found within the Temple of Mythal, when Ghilan'nain was mortal she created several monsters and beasts besides the halla. They were all so violent and untameable that Andruil hunted most of them down and offered her godhood if she destroyed them all. She did so, and became the youngest of the Elven gods The Dalish and the Arlathan versions of her origin differ vastly, the former being a simple elven hunter who was turned into the first halla, and the latter was a creator of monsters (and halla) who later became a goddess. She destroyed every monster she ever made except the halla and an unnamed sea monster, in response to Andruil's offer that she would ascend to godhood by doing so. She's the mother of all halla, and basically the goddess of everything related to them. Fen'Harel The Dread Wolf, the malevolent Trickster God, who tricked the elven pantheon and the Forgotten Ones into trapping themselves somewhere beyond the Fade. The Dalish worship him as a form of appeasement, as they believe he is the only god that still walks among the People. Fen'Harel was a nickname given to him by his enemies that he eventually took on as an actual name since it inspires hope from his allies and fear from his enemies. His real name is Solas. The Forgotten Ones The three known named gods are: Anaris, Geldauran and Daern'thal. No one knows much about them, other than the fact they were apparently evil and were locked in conflict with the Elven pantheon. The Abyss, where they supposedly dwell, is mentioned to be filled with some sort of Corruption. Even a goddess, like Andruil, would eventually turn crazy when she came in contact with it. That does sound a little familiar. The Forgotten Ones are suggested in the DLC Trespasser to have been the Forbidden Ones, with Xebenkeck being mentioned as one of the Forgotten Ones. They are implied to have been Dirty Coward Elves who discarded physical form to reside in the Fade so that they could survive the war. They were locked away, along with the rest of the Elven pantheon, according to myth. "The Sun" The creator deity and primordial deity of the Elven Pantheon. At this point, almost no one knows anything about it. According to the lore, The Sun grew jealous of The Land's affection for their son and the gifts she gave him. So he destroyed everything she made and scorched her. His imprisonment and later release mellowed him out some. "The Land" The primordial Earth deity that existed before the Elven pantheon and is responsible for creating and protecting all life. She was absolutely smitten with her son, and produced as many gifts, such as life, landscape, and other wonders, as she could to please him. Oceans exist because she wept from the loss of all the gifts she gave her son (not to mention the agony from the fact that The Sun scorched her entire surface). It is said that her second child, Mythal, appeared fully formed from the ocean that was created by The Land's tears, with no involvement from The Sun.